Resident Group Opposing Another Riverside Garden Project
Ant McPartlin's ex-wife wants to build gym, summerhouse and swimming pool
Lisa Armstrong recently shared pictures of her new home on social media. Picture: lisaarmstrongmakeup/Instagram
The No Garden Grab group, which successfully opposed the development of housing in a riverside garden on Hartington Road, is now aiming to prevent another project in the area.
Lisa Armstrong, the former wife of TV presenter Ant McPartlin, has submitted a number of planning applications to build structures in the 226-foot-long garden of the riverside house she recently acquired. She reportedly was given a £31million settlement in the divorce and has employed a designer friend to create a dream home to live in with her new partner. She bought the property in September 2020 for £3,725,000.
She wants to get permission for a gazebo, pergola, swimming pool and pool pump room in the rear garden. The pergola would be at the immediate rear of the house with a 30SqM metre pool in the middle of the garden. Further down would be a 44.4 SqM gym and a timber summerhouse with a deck right next to the river which could be up to 4 metres high.
There is already a pergola and a summerhouse at the site which would be replaced.
However, the No Garden Group says that the structures, some of which have already been put up and for which retrospective planning permission has been sought, should not be built on a flood plain.
The planning applications were posted on the Hounslow Council planning portal on 23 December 2021 and the No Garden Group said last week that there had been no notice posted outside the property and they are unaware of any consultation with neighbours about the plans. It says that it noticed 'by accident' that the plans had been submitted.
Drawings of plans submitted to Hounslow Council. Picture: Sally Meen Designs
The group says, "The back garden, like others along this stretch of Hartington Road, falls in Flood Zone 3b - functional floodplain which is designed to act as a safe storage area for floodwater in the event of a tidal breach of the flood defences. That is why all development is prohibited.
"A proposal in 2020 to construct a 2-storey pool house at a neighbouring property was rejected for being unacceptable development in Flood Zone 3b. This proposal for a large gym, pool pump room and summerhouse should be refused for the same reason.
"The back gardens in this area are also at high risk of surface water flooding as shown in the mapping of Hounslow's latest Surface Water Management Plan (November 2021). Increasing the impermeable area through construction means excess rainwater cannot drain away safely.
"It is vital that there is greater awareness of these very real flooding issues amongst homeowners and that Hounslow Council is consistent and transparent in applying existing planning policy to avoid increasing the risk of flooding in this vulnerable area."
The application references are P/2021/4940; P/2021/4941; P/2021/4942; P/2021/4943.
At the beginning of this year controversial proposal to develop housing on a large riverside garden was turned down by the Hounslow Council planning committee after councillors voted unanimously against the scheme despite the recommendation of borough planners that the scheme should be approved.
No Garden Grab had gathered more than 500 signatures, for a petition over 400 of which were online, which was signed by veteran environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt.
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February 6, 2022
